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Workplace Fatalities in the Baltimore Area – 2013

Fatal work injuries totaled 35 in 2013 for the Baltimore-Towson, Md. Metropolitan Statistical Area, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that while the 2013 count was preliminary, the number of work-related fatalities in the Baltimore area was little changed over the year. Since area data first became available in 2003, fatal occupational injuries in the area have ranged from a low of 28 in 2011 to a high of 59 in 2006. (See chart 1.)

Nationwide, a preliminary total of 4,405 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2013, lower than the revised count of 4,628 fatal work injuries in 2012, according to the results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) program. Final 2013 data from CFOI will be released in the late spring of 2015.

Of the 35 fatal work injuries reported in the Baltimore area in 2013, violence and other injuries by persons or animals and transportation incidents each accounted for 9 worker deaths; together, these two major categories represented over half of the area’s workplace fatalities. (Note that transportation counts presented in this release are expected to rise when updated 2013 data are released in the late spring of 2015 because key source documentation detailing specific transportation-related incidents has not yet been received.) Over the year, the number of workplace fatalities resulting from violence and other injuries by persons or animals and transportation incidents was little changed. Falls, slips, or trips and contact with objects and equipment each accounted for six worker fatalities in 2013, identical to the 2012 count. Exposure to harmful substances or environments accounted for four workplace fatalities in 2013, the same count as 2012. (See table 1.)

Within violence and other injuries by persons or animals, homicide was the most frequent type of workplace fatality in the Baltimore area with six deaths. Pedestrian vehicular incidents was the most frequent event within transportation incidents, accounting for five worker deaths. Falls to a lower level accounted for 5 of the 6 fatalities in the falls, slips, or trips category, and in contact with objects and equipment, 3 of the 6 fatalities were a result of being struck by an object or equipment. Drowning or submersion accounted for 2 of the 4 fatalities within the exposure to harmful substances or environments category.

In the United States, transportation incidents was the most frequent fatal workplace event in 2013, accounting for 40 percent of fatal work injuries. The Baltimore area’s share of on-the-job fatalities due to this event was lower at 26 percent. (See chart 2.) Violence and other injuries by persons or animals was the second-most frequent event nationally with 17 percent of work-related fatalities; Baltimore’s share was higher at 26 percent. Contact with objects and equipment and falls, slips, or trips each accounted for 16 percent of the nation’s workplace fatalities; in Baltimore, these events each accounted for 17 percent of total fatalities.

Additional key characteristics in the Baltimore area:

Government had the largest number of number of work-related fatalities in the area with 10 in 2013. In the previous year, government recorded five fatalities. (See table 2.)

The construction sector and the administrative and waste services sector had the second-largest number of fatalities in the area, each with five in 2013. In the previous year, the construction sector recorded seven workplace fatalities and administrative and waste services had four fatalities.

In the Baltimore area, transportation and material moving occupations had the highest number of workplace fatalities in 2013 with seven, the same count as in 2012. (See table 3.) The protective service occupations and construction and extraction occupations had the next-highest fatality count with six each; in 2012, protective service occupations had two workplace fatalities and construction and extraction had seven.

Men accounted for 97 percent of the work-related fatalities in the Baltimore area. (See table 4.) Two events made up half of these fatalities - transportation incidents accounted for 26 percent and violence and other injuries by persons or animals, 24 percent. Nationwide, men made up 93 percent of those fatally injured at work.

Sixty-six percent of those who died from a workplace injury in the Baltimore area were white non-Hispanics, similar to the 68-percent share nationwide. The most frequent event in Baltimore for this group was violence and other injuries by persons or animals. Non-Hispanic black or African-American workers accounted for 26 percent of the area’s fatal injuries, with transportation incidents accounting for almost half of these fatalities. In the United States, this group’s share was nine percent.

Workers 25-54 years old—the prime working age group—accounted for 60 percent of the area’s work-related fatalities in 2013, matching the share in the United States.

Of the 35 fatal work injuries in the Baltimore area, 80 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remaining were self-employed. The most frequent fatal event for the wage and salary group was transportation incidents, and for the self-employed, it was falls, slips, or trips.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200. Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Technical Note

Background of the program. The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), part of the BLS Occupational Safety and Health Statistics (OSHS) program, compiles a count of all fatal work injuries occurring in the U.S. during the calendar year. The CFOI program uses diverse state, federal, and independent data sources to identify, verify, and describe fatal work injuries. This assures counts are as complete and accurate as possible.

Federal/State agency coverage. The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries includes data for all fatal work injuries, whether the decedent was working in a job covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) or other federal or state agencies or was outside the scope of regulatory coverage. Thus, any comparison between the BLS fatality census counts and those released by other agencies should take into account the different coverage requirements and definitions being used by each agency.

Acknowledgments. BLS thanks the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation for their efforts in collecting accurate, comprehensive, and useful data on fatal work injuries. BLS also appreciates the efforts of all federal, state, local, and private sector entities that submitted source documents used to identify fatal work injuries. Among these agencies are the Occupational Safety and Health Administration; the National Transportation Safety Board; the U.S. Coast Guard; the Mine Safety and Health Administration; the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (Federal Employees' Compensation and Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation divisions); the Federal Railroad Administration; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; state vital statistics registrars, coroners, and medical examiners; state departments of health, labor and industries, and workers' compensation agencies; state and local police departments; and state farm bureaus.

Area definitions. The substate area data published in this release reflect the standards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, dated December 2009. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available at http://www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm.

The Baltimore-Towson, Md. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is composed of Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, Howard, and Queen Anne’s Counties and Baltimore City in Maryland.

Struck, caught, or crushed in collapsing structure, equipment, or material

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2

6

Excavation or trenching cave-in

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1

3

Struck, caught, or crushed in other collapsing structure or equipment

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1

3

Footnotes:(1) Based on the BLS Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS) 2.01 implemented for 2011 data forward.(2) Data for 2012 are revised and final.(p) Data for 2013 are preliminary. Revised and final 2013 data are scheduled to be released spring 2015.

NOTE: Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatality counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Footnotes:(1) Industry data are based on the North American Industry Classification System, 2007. Total may include other industries not shown.(2) Data for 2012 are revised and final.(3) Includes fatal injuries to workers employed by governmental organizations regardless of industry.(p) Data for 2013 are preliminary. Revised and final 2013 data are scheduled to be released spring 2015.

NOTE: Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatality counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Footnotes:(1) Occupation data are based on the Standard Occupational Classification system, 2010. Total may include occupations not shown.(2) Data for 2012 are revised and final.(3) Includes fatal injuries to persons identified as resident armed forces regardless of individual occupation listed.(p) Data for 2013 are preliminary. Revised and final 2013 data are scheduled to be released in spring 2015.

NOTE: Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatality counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Footnotes:(1) Data for 2012 are revised and final.(2) May include volunteers and workers receiving other types of compensation.(3) Includes self-employed workers, owners of unincorporated businesses and farms, paid and unpaid family workers, and may include some owners of incorporated businesses or members of partnerships.(4) Information may not be available for all age groups.(5) Persons identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race. The race categories shown exclude Hispanic and Latino workers.(p) Data for 2013 are preliminary. Revised and final 2013 data are scheduled to be released in spring 2015.

NOTE: Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. Dashes indicate no data reported or data do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatality counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.